


Three - Thirteen

by Naina



Category: U2
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-08
Updated: 2011-09-08
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:53:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naina/pseuds/Naina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam Clayton was born on March 13, 1960. Here are five of his birthdays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three - Thirteen

**Author's Note:**

> While some of the events described are real, Adam's thoughts are from my own imagination. The story is wholly fiction and I mean no offense.
> 
> Thanks to my beta and sounding board, la_woman, who always asks the right questions.

**1970**

  
Since his tenth birthday is on a Friday, his dad has promised to pick him up that afternoon, instead of the next morning like he usually does. Fifteen minutes after classes have ended, he spots a familiar car coming up the winding lane and grabs his suitcase, rushing to meet it amid his friends' birthday wishes. During the drive home, his dad tells him about the party planned for the next day, and when they pull up to the house, his mum opens the door with a smile, looking even bigger than she had a week ago. It's harder to hug her now, but he pats her stomach and thinks of the baby brother he's hoping for inside.

 

 **1980**

  
Things are going well for the band at the moment, and the tension between him and his parents has eased somewhat. He's genuinely grateful and thanks them profusely when they give him a bit of money and take him out for a nice supper. His girlfriend has knitted him a cozy new scarf, and the lads treat him to several rounds down at the pub. It's a nice birthday overall, nothing fancy. He didn't have a cake or candles to blow out, but if he had, he'd have wished for the band to be signed.

 

 **1990**

  
Coming down from the tour is harder than it's ever been. The shows after the New Year throw him off, making it feel like there's another leg coming up, when that's not the case. He loves the peace and quiet in Dublin, and knows it should be calming, but he's too twitchy to settle in. Finally, he calls the Principle office in New York and asks for help in finding an apartment to rent for a few weeks. Somewhere in this world there's a birthday present - not like a book or new jumper, but a more meaningful, life-changing sort - with his name on it; maybe he'll find it there.

 

 **2000**

  
He has some odd moments when the reality of being forty shocks the hell out of him. He's honest enough with himself that there were times when he wondered if he'd make it that far. He knows how he did it, and why. Some of those reasons had thrown him a grand party the day before, and another is asleep beside him, her hair tickling his shoulder. There are things he still wants to do, bad habits he wants to drop, but for now he's happy.

 

 **2010**

  
He's not fifty just yet. The date hovers steadily in the near distance, silent but insistent. So much has happened in the last ten years - in the last five years. Not merely in songs written, albums released or shows played, but beyond his life with the band. He has come to know himself better than before; facets he'd never imagined have been brought to light. After the end of a long-time relationship, he'd spent a while single before finding himself in love again, this time with the man whose drumbeat has guided him for nearly 35 years. What he wants now means more than a simple birthday wish, and if this love is returned, he knows he'll never want for anything.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written and originally posted in February 2009, shortly before Adam's 49th birthday, hence the wording in the final paragraph. I'm aware that his fiftieth birthday has since come and gone, but I didn't want to change it.


End file.
